The Irish standard., 1887-02-26
HOW TEA is GROWN.
Manipulation and Preparati ton of the Bev'
erage in the Celestial Empire.

Manipulation and Preparation of the Bey'
erage in the Celestial Empire.
The China tea is principally grown
in the provinces of Fokien, Kiang-nan.
Che-Kiang and Kiang-sy. It grows on
the hills on a small evergreen shrub.
Locality has something to do with the
value. saw tea worth forty dollars
a pound 1t was grown in q particular
district. The season in which the tea
is gathered affected it's value. The
| young leaves gathered in the spring
are of finer flavor than the full-growi'
leaves of summer. The tea dis
tricts are divided into small
farms. The farmers gather the leaves,
dry them in the sun Just enough to
prevent their being spoiled, and sell
them to the Hong merchants.
There is no distinctive green Or
black tea. The two teas come from the
same plant. The color depends entire
ly upon manipulation. Young plants
for both varieties are raised from seeds.
The seeds are gathered in October and
during the winter are mixed with
earth and sand. In the spring they are
sown. In year they are transplanted.
They are then planted in rows about
four feet apart. Five or six plants are
placed in each hole, and the holes are
about four feet apart. The plantation
looks like shrubbery Of evergreens,
They are not molested in three years.
Then the leaves are gathered and
spread out ON small bamboo trays in
order to get rid OF moisture. After two
hours drying the leaves are thrown
into roasting pans and are rapidly
moved about and shaken up. They
remain in this state five minutes, and
are then placed on the rolling-table.
The leaves are distributed among men
who roll them in their hands. They
are rolled in balls and the moisture is
expelled. The leaves are then shaken
On fiat trays and are again subjected to
the roasting process. They are we'll
dried and III an hour and Il half their
color is fixed.
After that the tea is winnowed and
passed through various sieves i'll order
to get rid OF impurities and to divide it
into the several teas of commerce.
In the transportation to the shipping
point the finest tea must never touch
the soil. It is carried in single chests,
while the ordinary tea is carried in
chests of sixty pounds each ON the end
of y bamboo pole.
The green tea SO much liked by
ladies at home seems to owe its origin
to coloring matter. Salts of copper
and gypsum seem to be responsible for
the bright green color. The Chinese
do not use this colored tea. / am not
an expert on tea. My fancy at home
was for green tea. But one soon ac~
quires Chinese habits. A Chinaman
never drinks wafer He drinks enor-
NOUS quantities of tea. He never uses
milk or sugar. A Chinaman at a
tavern on a visit, receiving a visitor,
drinks tea. He drinks tea the last
thing before dinner and the first thing
after dinner. The official visit COM
mences with tea in small cups with
covers to them. The little cup is COW
cred with :, small saucer and, renov-
ing it, one sees the leaves on which
boiling water has been poured. When
the visit is properly over the most dis
tinguished person present takes up his
cup, takes a sip, and departs.
The Chinese affect water taken from a
running stream and boiled over a live
ly fire, Spring water is best, river
water next, and well water worst. The
water should not be too hastily boiled.
Tea cools, they say. or cheers the ami
mai spirits. The Chinese think it
tends to clear away impurities, pre-
vents headache and drives of: drowsi-
ness. at all events, forei eigners readily
adopt Chinese notions. The cup Of
tea is always offered to and accepted
by the visitor. Four o'clock tea is as
regular an observance as dinner. Aft
er the nominal breakfast and the alb
surd tiffin-with a hungry stretch Of
eight hours. to the eight o'clock dinner
at four c'clock one rehshes immense
ly the cakes and the bright, golden,
sparkling cup of tea.--0timister Dembv
i,a Indianapolis Sentinel.